Remember
by velociraptor52
Summary: The gang remembers...please R & R!


Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own the characters of Buffy the Vampire Slayer...wish I could, though, but I can't.  
  


A/N: I thought of this story the night after the finale of Buffy aired...I was still somewhat in depression over Spike dying, and this story was born.  
  


Remember  
  


"So what are we going to do now?" Dawn asks Buffy.  
     Buffy looks over the crater, which at once was Sunnydale, and she realizes how much she left behind, how much she lost. She lost her house, her car; she can never again visit her mother's grave, or Tara's. But she knows one thing she hadn't lost: her memories.  
     She smiles, as she now realizes what she wants to finally do. "I just want to remember," she answers softly, turns, and heads back to the bus with her friends following.  
     "What?" Xander asks her as he steps into the bus. Buffy sits down in the seat behind the driver's seat, and looks out the window.   
     "I want to remember," she says more loudly than before. The rest of the gang step into the bus, and finds a seat.   
     "What do you want to remember, Buffy? Good times, bad times...?" Willow asks, sitting down next to Kennedy on the seat across from Buffy.  
     "Times we can never mention?" Xander jokes, and grins. Buffy and Willow looks at him weirdly. "Nobody ever gets that joke," he says with defeated tone, and sits down behind Buffy's seat.  
     Willow still stares at Xander blankly before realization hits her. "Oh! I get it! Like you and Anya, always...yeah, I get it!"  
     "Eh, not those," Buffy says with disgust upon her face. "Those aren't really lasting memories to remember, to tell the truth, Xander."  
     "I know, but, man..." he grins, and shakes his head. "You have to admit, those were good times."  
     "No, I just want to remember the _good_ times. The people who didn't make it out alive..."  
     "Okay, how about this to remember: we all started singing," Xander suggests. "Is that a good time to remember?"  
     "Yeah, defiantly," Willow agrees.  
     Buffy shrugs. "Okay, good enough for me."  
     "How did you guys start singing?" Kennedy asks mostly Willow, but Xander takes in the question.  
     "Ah, that..." Xander's eyes become distant as he remembers the time when they all started singing. "I found this ancient necklace, which called on this demon that caused singing and dancing."  
     "But it carried a price..." Willow adds.  
     "Some people were combusted to ashes," Giles explains.  
     "Yeah, it was tragedy..." Dawn adds.  
     "Which one?" Buffy asks her.  
     Dawn thinks for a moment. "The singing." She laughs.  
     "I remember the singing," Andrew says. "That was awesome."  
     "Not to be on the verge of friendship with you, but...what did you sing about?" Xander asks, curious at what Andrew sang about.  
     "A limited edition R2-D2 model," Andrew answers quickly.  
     Xander looks at him curiously. "Why?"  
     "Oh," Andrew blushes in embarrassment. "Warren stole it from me and wouldn't give it back."  
     "Remember that time when those creepy Gentlemen came and stole our voices?" Willow asks.  
     "Oh, don't make me go back to that. I think I almost damaged my voice when I had to scream to kill the Gentlemen." She rubs her throat.   
     Willow laughs. "Don't forget about Riley," she adds.  
     "Yeah, I just had to find out who he was that night: an army boy," Buffy says, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.  
     "But I met Tara that night," Willow points out happily.  
     "And you guys were complete," Kennedy adds.  
     "Remember that one time when Spike-?" Buffy hesitates.   
     "About what?" Xander asks.  
     Buffy brushes off the feeling. "Never mind." She sighs. "So, who do we remember?"  
     "Anya," Xander says, and looks at the floor of the bus.  
     A frown comes across Buffy's face. "Oh, I'm sorry, Xander. I know she was your whole world."  
     "She was more than that: she was my heart," he says sadly. "And I can't live without my heart."  
     "Xander...I bet that she's looking down on you right now, thinking of you as her whole heart, too," Willow assures him.  
     Xander nods, but still depressed. "She loved her money back then," he says, and grins. "When she was working at the Magic Box, everyday she walked in, and headed to the cash register first."  
     "But she loved you first," Buffy points out. "No matter how angry she was at you, she'd always turn to you for comfort."  
     "It was a good feeling," Xander says.  
     "Amanda died," Kennedy points out. "She was a good friend."  
     "Yeah," Vi agrees. "She never gave up, with what being a Slayer and all."  
     "She could've been something more, someone more than a Slayer. She could have had a normal life-,"  
     "But she was chosen," Vi finishes Kennedy's sentence. "We all were chosen, thanks to Buffy." She nods in Buffy's direction.  
     "Don't forget my girl, Willow, here, too. If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have these powers in the first place," Kennedy explains, and pats Willow on the back. "Good job, Willow."  
     "Okay, that's all the people we lost in the battle," Buffy says brightly. She prays that nobody mentions Spike, as she still is in pain over his death.  
     "What about Spike, Buffy?" Xander brings up the subject.  
     "We don't really need to mourn him. Besides, you hated him," she points it out. Xander cringes.  
      "Yeah, but everyone who lost their life in the battle deserves to be remembered. And that goes for Spike," he adds, grinning.  
     "I'll start with the remembering Spike thing: he was very sarcastic sometimes, even in the face of a crises," Willow says, and smiles.  
     "I underestimated him," Xander says pointedly, then he adds, "I can never figure out why you realize that you like somebody after they die, like it isn't time to figure out that they're your friend before they die, it has to be after they die. No," Xander sighs, and he continues, "now I can never walk up to Spike and say, 'Hey, you're my friend. I've upgraded you from mortal enemy to a friend.'"  
     "I like how he used to care about me back then, even without a soul, he loved me. This was just further proof that he was special," Buffy says.  
     "Well, I bet that he's in a very special place for vampires with a soul, like a vampire-with-a-soul heaven. There must be one, isn't there?" Willow asks worriedly. "Anyway, I bet he's in a save place now."  
     "You're making a lot of bets, Willow. Can you pay for them all?" Xander jokes.  
     Willow glares at Xander, and then looks at Buffy sadly. "I'm sorry, Buffy. But he is in a better place, always watching over you."  
     "Is he, Willow? Is he?" Buffy asks softly, and leaves the bus. She focuses her eyes on what's in front of her, not behind her. All she could see was an endless desert that stretched out for miles without an end, like her journey for a normal life. She knows that rebuilding her life would take years, like this endless desert, but she also knows that someone is watching over her. She closes her eyes, and just wants to listen to the soft, rolling wind, and nothing else.  
     And then, as if he were still there besides her, she could make out the faintly spoken words, "I love you."


End file.
